


Let Down Your Hair

by Alcnolien



Series: Talia Amell: The Unauthorized Biography [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Gen, No Romance, One Shot, Pre-Dragon Age: Origins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-07-27
Packaged: 2018-07-27 00:25:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7596151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alcnolien/pseuds/Alcnolien
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A young Talia Amell hatches a new escape plan based on a fairy tale, and ropes poor Jowan into it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let Down Your Hair

“'Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!' He called. And once again a great length of hair dropped down from above, and the Prince once again climbed it up onto her balcony. Only this time...”

 “This time?”

“ _This_ time, it was not Rapunzel waiting for him, but the Evil Witch!”

“No!” Talia gasped, her hands clutching her face in shock.

“Shhh! Let him finish the story!” Jowan whispered.

The templar suppressed a chuckle, leaving a dramatic pause to allow the young mages to settle back down. Satisfied that they were quiet, he continued.

“'Aha!' cried the witch. 'You come here seeking your dearest, but she has been taken out of your reach! You shall never see Rapunzel again!' The Prince searched all over the tower in vain, and in a fit of despair leaped from the tower, never knowing that his beloved remained hidden behind him. And Rapunzel, her long hair taken from her, was trapped for eternity.'”

The two waited quietly. “And....?” 

The templar sat back in his seat. “And that's it. That's the end.”

“ _What?_ ” Talia cried. “What kind of ending is _that_ supposed to be?”

The templar raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth twitched up in a smirk. “What kind of ending were you expecting?”

Talia stuttered, her hands flying about as she gathered her thoughts. “The- the prince! He was supposed to defeat the evil witch, rescue Rapunzel, and they live happily ever after!” Jowan nodded in agreement.

The templar laughed. “Unfortunately, not every story has a happy ending, kiddo.” He moved to stand, groaning as he stretched out the kinks in his back. “Sometimes you just have to deal with it.”

Talia crossed her arms, glaring up at him. “I'm never listening to your stories again, Jacob.”

“That's what you said last time.” Ser Jacob grinned, reaching down to ruffle her hair- she batted his hand away and stomped off, his laughter echoing after her.

“Same time tomorrow, kiddo!” he called after her- she whirled around long enough to stick her tongue out at him, before disappearing around the corner.

Jowan stood up slowly, brushing off his robes. “What story's tomorrow, Ser Jacob?”

“ _The Little Mermaid_.” Jacob smirked. “Oh, she's gonna _love_ that one.”

 

* * *

 

Talia was unusually quiet as the pair walked toward the dining hall, lost in thought. Jowan tried a couple of times to get her attention, before resigning himself to his own thoughts. They remained in silence until they had sat down with their food.

“Maybe, if I grow my hair out more...” Talia muttered.

“Whuh wuzzah??” Jowan asked through a mouthful of bread.

“My hair!” Talia was grinning now, a mischievous spark in her eye. “It's already pretty long. If I grow it long enough, like in that story, I can have someone climb it and help me get out of here!”

Jowan's laugh quickly deteriorated into a coughing fit as he choked on his food, requiring a couple of good hard whacks on the back before he could regain his composure. “That-” he coughed again, taking a swig of water before trying to finish his thought. “That is your worst escape plan yet, and that's saying something. There's so many things wrong with it, I don't even know where to start.”

“That's the beauty of it! It's so crazy, no one will expect it! It's perfect!”

Jowan groaned, sinking his face into the palm of his hand. “You know what, do whatever you want with your hair. As bad as it is, at least this plan doesn't involve me in any way.”

 

* * *

 

“I _really_ don't think this is a good idea, Talia.”

“Come on, I have to practice for the real thing!” The young girl perched atop the bunk bed, her long hair dangling over the side.

Jowan stood at the base, staring at her hair like it was about to turn into snakes and bite him. “Shouldn't your hair be in a braid? It would be a much sturdier rope.”

“The story never mentioned it, as far as I remember. And besides, braiding it will shorten it too much, this is all we have to work with. Now stop lollygagging and climb up my hair!”

“All this is gonna do is hurt you a lot. It might even pull some hair out.”

“That's the whole point! I've got to build up a tolerance while I can. I've been growing this out for a year, now. If I don't practice, how am I gonna deal with it when the time comes?”

“Who do you think is even going to come and rescue you? How many people have you seen trying to break mages out?”

“I'll work that out later, I've got plenty of time before my hair is long enough. Look, you can criticize this plan all you want later, but right now, will you just please try to climb up here?”

Jowan sighed, his brow furrowed. Talia had always joked about “when I get out of here,” or “when I make my dashing escape,” but he had never thought she was actually serious. Now he wasn't certain it had ever been a joke. Crouching over the edge of the bunk bed, her hair draping over her face like a banshee, her features were set with absolute determination. There was no talking her out of this.

“Ok, ok.” He reached out, gingerly gathering her hair into one hand, before setting his foot against the edge of the bottom bunk. “.... You ready?”

Talia grit her teeth, readjusting her grip on the railing. “Ready.”

“Ok... here goes nothing.”

 

* * *

 

Talia woke up 4 hours later in the medical wing, her head throbbing and unable to move her right arm. She strained to see, turning her head just enough- it was in a cast. She groaned, both in pain and frustration. That was her writing arm. Oh well.

The noise brought the mage on duty over- Wynne. “Are you alright, dear?” She asked, gently touching her arm. “You and your friend caused quite the incident. Nothing we can't fix, of course, but I wouldn't try a stunt like that again.”

Talia shot upright at that. “J-Jowan!?” Her head spun from the sudden movement, and she doubled over, trying to steady herself. “I-is he alright? Where is he?”

Wynne chuckled softly, gesturing to the bed next to hers. “Your friend is fine, child, broken bones aside,” she whispered, gesturing to the bed next to them. “He's sleeping, though, so I would let him rest, and get some sleep yourself.”

Talia nodded, lying back down slowly as Wynne walked off to attend to matters elsewhere. She pulled the covers over and turned to lie facing the bed Wynne had pointed to- there certainly was someone there, but the blankets were piled so high on top of him that all she could see was a blanket lump with two legs sticking out the bottom and a tuft of black hair at the top. The lump moved rhythmically, and she could hear a light snore. One of the legs, she noticed, had a cast on it.

“..... Jowan?” she whispered.

The snore cut short as the lump stopped moving.

“Jowan, are you ok?”

The lump didn't move. After a moment, it started to snore again, this time a little louder.

Talia frowned. “I know you're awake, Jowan, don't pretend to sleep just so you don't have to talk to me.” He snored extra loudly in response.

Talia sighed, rolling onto her back and staring at the ceiling. “Jowan... I...” She chewed her lower lip, shifting under the covers. “I.... I'm sorry.”

The snoring stopped again.

“I'm not asking you to forgive me. But if there's anything I can do, or say....” She trailed off, glancing over at the lump. It remained infuriatingly still and silent.

“I know you're mad. It was a stupid idea, and you got hurt because of it. Because of _me._ S-so, if you n-never want to speak to me again, I... I understand.”

Jowan finally shot upright, tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. “I don't care about that!” he spat, clinging onto the thin blanket. “I'm mad that you want to escape and _leave_ me here!”

Talia lay absolutely rigid, staring up at Jowan, who refused to meet her eye. She swallowed, trying to speak, but he continued before she could figure out what she wanted to say.

“Y-you didn't even ask me if I wanted to come with you! I... I thought we were friends!” he choked, tears spilling over and running down his cheeks. “What _is_ your plan, huh? Escape and go have a grand adventure with your new _adventure friends_ , while I stay here?”

Talia shifted, pulling the blankets tighter around her as she looked down in embarrassment. She had never thought that far, only focusing on the smell of freedom and the feel of grass between her toes. She looked back up at him, opening and closing her mouth, trying to find the right thing to say.

He reached up with one arm, wiping at his eyes with the back of his sleeve. “ _Also,_ it _was_ a stupid and dangerous idea, and I shouldn't have gone along with it in the first place, and of COURSE the bunk beds fell over, what were we _thinking_ , b-but...” he inhaled roughly, holding it for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. “You're.... you're basically the only family I have. I don't know what I'd do without you, so....” he shifted on the bed, finally turning to look down at her. “.... So, just... don't leave me alone, ok?”

They both sat it silence, staring at each other, the tension so thick you could cut it with a knife. Suddenly, Talia surged out of bed, struggling against the tangle of blankets and her own broken arm. Finally, she broke free and trapped Jowan in a bear hug – difficult with just the one good arm, but she managed it. “I promise,” she murmured, “that I will never leave you alone.” She leaned back, meeting his eye with a smile. “From now on, no matter what, we'll stick together.”

Jowan sniffled, a hesitant smile lifting one corner of his mouth. “Always?”

“Always. You're like a brother to me, Jowan, we're _family_. And families stick together. So I won't go anywhere without you, and _you,”_ she said with a smirk, jabbing him in the chest with a finger, “Won't go anywhere without me. Got it?”

Jowan nodded, wiping the last of his tears away before grinning. “Got it.”

A noise in the distance alerted the two to Wynne's return, and they both scrambled back under the covers to their respective beds, fake snoring as hard as they possibly could. Talia thought they were pretty convincing, although she could have sworn she heard Wynne chuckle to herself as she continued to the next room.

Satisfied that Wynne was gone, Talia peeked out from under the covers to find Jowan peering right back at her. They both grinned.

“Goodnight, Jowan,” she whispered.

“Goodnight, Talia,” he whispered back.

They both snuggled down under the covers, a satisfied smile on Talia's face as she burrowed down into her pillow. The day had been a huge failure- her plan had failed and she'd gotten them hurt in the process. But, knowing that the two of them would have each others back from then on, she didn't care if she was gonna be stuck in that tower forever. At least they'd be stuck together.

 


End file.
